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| What is Reincarnation? |
Reincarnation is called samsara in the classic Vedic texts of India. The word samsara is Sanskrit and means
being bound to the cycle of repeated birth and death through numerous lifetimes. How this works is that those
who are materially conditioned transmigrate through different bodies according to one’s desires and past
activities (or karma) and familiarities. Their desires, if materially motivated, requires a physical body to enable
them to continue to work out their material longings in various conditions of life.
Generally, in the Eastern traditions it is considered that all forms of life or species have souls, which is the entity
who reincarnates. Previous to when an entity is ready to incarnate as a human being on Earth, the soul may
have gone through a whole series of lives in order to experience various levels of existence and consciousness.
The principle is that an entity may actually progress through the different species of life, gradually working their
way up until they reach the human form. Of course, the body is only the covering of the soul in which it appears.
The living being will continually move upward in its cycles of reincarnation until it has experienced all the main
varieties of existences that the material realm has to offer. This way the living being is fully experienced in
working out material desires or longings in all kinds of forms by the time it reaches the human stage. Of course,
not every being may have to go through all of this.
How reincarnation works is most elaborately described in the Vedic texts of India. The Bhagavad-gita (8.6)
explains that whatever state of consciousness one attains when he or she quits this body, a similar state will be
attained in the next life. This means that after the person has lived his or her life, the numerous variegated
activities of the person forms an aggregated consciousness. All of our thoughts and actions throughout our life
will collectively influence the state of being we are in at the time of death. This consciousness will determine
what that person is thinking of at the end of one’s life. This last thought and consciousness will then direct
where that person will most likely go in the next life because this state of being carries over from this life into
the next.
As it is further explained, the living entity in the material world carries the different levels of consciousness from
one body to another in the same way the air carries aromas. In other words, we cannot see the aromas that
the air carries, yet it can be perceived by the sense of smell. In a similar way, we cannot see the types of
consciousness that the living being has developed, but it is carried from this body at the time of death and
proceeds to another body in the next life to take up where it left off from the preceding existence. Of course, the
next life may be in another physical body or in a subtle body in between births, or even in heavenly or hellish
states of being.
After death, one continues the consciousness that was cultivated during life. It is our thought patterns that build
the consciousness, which then directs us toward the required experience after death. One’s state of
consciousness or conception of life exists in the subtle body, which consists of mind, intelligence and false ego.
The soul is covered by this subtle body, which exists within the gross material form. When the physical body can
no longer function, the subtle body and soul are forced out of it. Then, when the time is right, they are placed in
another physical frame which properly accommodates the state of mind of the living entity. This is how the
mental state which pervades the dying man determines how he begins his next life. If the dying man is
absorbed in thoughts of material gain or sensual pleasures of wife, family, relatives, home, etc., then he must,
at some point, get another material body to continue pursuing his worldly interests. After all, how can one
satisfy his material desires without a material body?
For this reason, it is best that a person always cultivates pious activities and spiritual thoughts to help him or
her enter a better life after death. If a person has tried to cut the knots of attachment to materialistic life, and
engages in spiritual activities, to the degree of advancement the person has made, he or she can go to a
heavenly realm after death, or even reach the kingdom of God.
In any case, we can begin to understand that dying in the right consciousness in order to become free from the
cycle of birth and death is an art that takes practice. We have to prepare for the moment of death so that we
are not caught off guard or in an unsuitable state of mind. This is one of the purposes of yoga.
After what can be millions of births and deaths through many forms of life, trying to satisfy all of one’s material
desires, the soul may begin to get tired of these continuous attempts for happiness that often turn out to be so
temporary. Then the person may turn toward finding spiritual meaning in life. In one’s search for higher
meaning, depending on the level of consciousness that a person develops, he or she can gradually enter higher
and higher levels of development. Finally, if a person detects that he is actually not this body but a spiritual
being within it, and reaches a spiritual level of consciousness, he can perfect his life so that he will enter the
spiritual strata and no longer have to incarnate in the physical world. Thus, liberation is attained through Self-
realization and the development of devotional service to God, which is the perfection of the spiritual path.
Through human existence on Earth, the doorways to many other planes of existence are open, including
entrance into the spiritual world. It only depends on how we use this life.
The idea that a person has only one life to either become qualified to enter heaven or enter eternal damnation
offers the soul no means of rehabilitation and only endless misery. This is not reasonable. The doctrine of
reincarnation gives anyone generously the opportunity to correct and re-educate himself in future births. An
eternity in hell means that an infinite effect is produced by a finite cause, which is illogical. God has not created
men to become nothing more than ever-lasting fuel to feed the fires of hell. Such a purpose in His creation would
not come from an ever-loving God, but comes from the faulty ideas of man and his imperfect conceptions of God.
After all, how many spotless men could there be in this world? Who has such a pure character to receive an
immediate pass to heaven? The Bhagavad-gita explains that even the worst sinner can cross the ocean of birth
and death by ascending the boat of transcendental knowledge. We simply have to be sincere in reaching that
boat.
Furthermore, a person reaps the results of his sinful deeds for a limited amount of time. After being purged of
one’s sins, meaning suffering the painful reactions from one’s bad activities, a person, knowing right from wrong,
can have a fresh chance to freely work for his emancipation from further entanglement in material life. When he
deserves and attains such freedom, the soul can enjoy perfect and eternal bliss in its devotional union with the
Supreme Being. This is why it is always encouraged for one to strive for spiritual knowledge and the practice of
enlightenment. By developing sincere and purified devotion for the Lord, one does not have to worry about one’
s future birth. Once a person has started this path of devotion, each life will take one closer to spiritual
perfection, in whatever situation one finds him or herself.
So a person is encouraged to repent for one’s sins or ill choices that were made while under the influence of
lust, anger or greed, and cultivate forgiveness, purity and generosity. A person should also engage in charity,
penance, meditation, japa (personal chanting of the Lord’s holy names), kirtan (congregational singing of the
Lord’s holy names), and other spiritual practices, which destroy all sins and removes all doubts about spiritual
knowledge. Then through steady practice one can gradually reach the spiritual world and be free from any
further entanglement in reincarnation.
TOP
being bound to the cycle of repeated birth and death through numerous lifetimes. How this works is that those
who are materially conditioned transmigrate through different bodies according to one’s desires and past
activities (or karma) and familiarities. Their desires, if materially motivated, requires a physical body to enable
them to continue to work out their material longings in various conditions of life.
Generally, in the Eastern traditions it is considered that all forms of life or species have souls, which is the entity
who reincarnates. Previous to when an entity is ready to incarnate as a human being on Earth, the soul may
have gone through a whole series of lives in order to experience various levels of existence and consciousness.
The principle is that an entity may actually progress through the different species of life, gradually working their
way up until they reach the human form. Of course, the body is only the covering of the soul in which it appears.
The living being will continually move upward in its cycles of reincarnation until it has experienced all the main
varieties of existences that the material realm has to offer. This way the living being is fully experienced in
working out material desires or longings in all kinds of forms by the time it reaches the human stage. Of course,
not every being may have to go through all of this.
How reincarnation works is most elaborately described in the Vedic texts of India. The Bhagavad-gita (8.6)
explains that whatever state of consciousness one attains when he or she quits this body, a similar state will be
attained in the next life. This means that after the person has lived his or her life, the numerous variegated
activities of the person forms an aggregated consciousness. All of our thoughts and actions throughout our life
will collectively influence the state of being we are in at the time of death. This consciousness will determine
what that person is thinking of at the end of one’s life. This last thought and consciousness will then direct
where that person will most likely go in the next life because this state of being carries over from this life into
the next.
As it is further explained, the living entity in the material world carries the different levels of consciousness from
one body to another in the same way the air carries aromas. In other words, we cannot see the aromas that
the air carries, yet it can be perceived by the sense of smell. In a similar way, we cannot see the types of
consciousness that the living being has developed, but it is carried from this body at the time of death and
proceeds to another body in the next life to take up where it left off from the preceding existence. Of course, the
next life may be in another physical body or in a subtle body in between births, or even in heavenly or hellish
states of being.
After death, one continues the consciousness that was cultivated during life. It is our thought patterns that build
the consciousness, which then directs us toward the required experience after death. One’s state of
consciousness or conception of life exists in the subtle body, which consists of mind, intelligence and false ego.
The soul is covered by this subtle body, which exists within the gross material form. When the physical body can
no longer function, the subtle body and soul are forced out of it. Then, when the time is right, they are placed in
another physical frame which properly accommodates the state of mind of the living entity. This is how the
mental state which pervades the dying man determines how he begins his next life. If the dying man is
absorbed in thoughts of material gain or sensual pleasures of wife, family, relatives, home, etc., then he must,
at some point, get another material body to continue pursuing his worldly interests. After all, how can one
satisfy his material desires without a material body?
For this reason, it is best that a person always cultivates pious activities and spiritual thoughts to help him or
her enter a better life after death. If a person has tried to cut the knots of attachment to materialistic life, and
engages in spiritual activities, to the degree of advancement the person has made, he or she can go to a
heavenly realm after death, or even reach the kingdom of God.
In any case, we can begin to understand that dying in the right consciousness in order to become free from the
cycle of birth and death is an art that takes practice. We have to prepare for the moment of death so that we
are not caught off guard or in an unsuitable state of mind. This is one of the purposes of yoga.
After what can be millions of births and deaths through many forms of life, trying to satisfy all of one’s material
desires, the soul may begin to get tired of these continuous attempts for happiness that often turn out to be so
temporary. Then the person may turn toward finding spiritual meaning in life. In one’s search for higher
meaning, depending on the level of consciousness that a person develops, he or she can gradually enter higher
and higher levels of development. Finally, if a person detects that he is actually not this body but a spiritual
being within it, and reaches a spiritual level of consciousness, he can perfect his life so that he will enter the
spiritual strata and no longer have to incarnate in the physical world. Thus, liberation is attained through Self-
realization and the development of devotional service to God, which is the perfection of the spiritual path.
Through human existence on Earth, the doorways to many other planes of existence are open, including
entrance into the spiritual world. It only depends on how we use this life.
The idea that a person has only one life to either become qualified to enter heaven or enter eternal damnation
offers the soul no means of rehabilitation and only endless misery. This is not reasonable. The doctrine of
reincarnation gives anyone generously the opportunity to correct and re-educate himself in future births. An
eternity in hell means that an infinite effect is produced by a finite cause, which is illogical. God has not created
men to become nothing more than ever-lasting fuel to feed the fires of hell. Such a purpose in His creation would
not come from an ever-loving God, but comes from the faulty ideas of man and his imperfect conceptions of God.
After all, how many spotless men could there be in this world? Who has such a pure character to receive an
immediate pass to heaven? The Bhagavad-gita explains that even the worst sinner can cross the ocean of birth
and death by ascending the boat of transcendental knowledge. We simply have to be sincere in reaching that
boat.
Furthermore, a person reaps the results of his sinful deeds for a limited amount of time. After being purged of
one’s sins, meaning suffering the painful reactions from one’s bad activities, a person, knowing right from wrong,
can have a fresh chance to freely work for his emancipation from further entanglement in material life. When he
deserves and attains such freedom, the soul can enjoy perfect and eternal bliss in its devotional union with the
Supreme Being. This is why it is always encouraged for one to strive for spiritual knowledge and the practice of
enlightenment. By developing sincere and purified devotion for the Lord, one does not have to worry about one’
s future birth. Once a person has started this path of devotion, each life will take one closer to spiritual
perfection, in whatever situation one finds him or herself.
So a person is encouraged to repent for one’s sins or ill choices that were made while under the influence of
lust, anger or greed, and cultivate forgiveness, purity and generosity. A person should also engage in charity,
penance, meditation, japa (personal chanting of the Lord’s holy names), kirtan (congregational singing of the
Lord’s holy names), and other spiritual practices, which destroy all sins and removes all doubts about spiritual
knowledge. Then through steady practice one can gradually reach the spiritual world and be free from any
further entanglement in reincarnation.
TOP
